Grout joint size

I have often been asked to make the grout joint as small as possible. Usually by people who imagine that a smaller grout joint will demand less cleaning because there is less to get dirty.

My answer is always the same: It will depend on how well gauged the tile is. Too often tiles are not the SAME SIZE! They may appear to be the same but often vary in size and sometimes even in shape. Tiles sometimes have a long and short size.

I have seen tiles sometimes vary in size as much as 3/8 of an inch! And typically porcelain tiles vary the most. If the variance is excessive, it denies the ability of the joint being too small. As it will finally cause the joint somewhere to be butt joint or too large a joint in order to keep the tiles aligned when there is variance.